Friday, September 16, 2016

L.A. Green Festival Exhibitor Profile - PiTcarz

TransportiCA met-up with Jonathan Rivera, Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of "PiTcarz," a regional car-sharing organization based on Los Angeles. This weekend, PiTcarz celebrates its first anniversary, and we wanted to see what makes this company different in this increasingly growing field.

In true Silicon Valley fashion, PiTcarz was born out of a garage, now operating in the 30-mile perimeter of Hollywood, West Hollywood, Downtown L.A., the San Fernando Valley, as well as, the tri-city area of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. Besides being the region's lowest-priced car-sharing operator, PiTcarz also provides insurance and gasoline - complimentary with your hourly rate, as well as, 200 miles included in your daily rental; additional mileage costs are $0.35/mile. Annual memberships are $1, new members receive a $10 driving credit, and prepaid users can get up to $65 in credit per month. Other discounts include day rentals and repeat use.

With more and more millennials choosing not to own a car, PiTcarz also advertises significantly to local college students, providing additional discounts for such memberships.PiTcarz contains many unique features for car-sharing. One of those, members being able to make one-way trips. Other car-sharing services require members return the rented vehicle back to a particular spot. With PiTcarz, as long as you are within the 30-mile perimeter, members can leave cars wherever, so long as it is safe/legal to do so. Members can also go online to their profile and find out greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from PiTcarz use. Lastly, PiTcarz' sustainability commitment is driven by - pardon the pun - the service only using the GM Spark; thereby, allowing members to drive in electric vehicle or hybrid mode, further reducing emissions and fossil-fuel use.